Graeme Murty has told his Rangers players they will NEVER get a better opportunity to get one over on Celtic.

Murty’s side twice led against the Hoops during a blood and thunder Premiership clash at Ibrox but the 10-men league leaders rallied to secure a thrilling 3-2 victory.

Sub Odsonne Edouard fired home a winner after Jozo Simunovic saw red to send Celtic nine points clear at the top, leaving Murty cursing the "schoolboy" defending that twice let the visitors back into the game.

Josh Windass and then Daniel Candeias put Rangers in the driving seat only for Tom Rogic and Moussa Dembele to hit back for Celtic, before Edouard's stunning winner effectively ended any talk of a potential title race.

Candeias celebrates (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Murty said: "I've just told the players in the changing room you'll never have a better opportunity to go and win the game. And we've let that opportunity go away.

"We've let it go away by not being very good at the basics and conceding three really, really poor goals.

"We started really well, obviously the stadium gets rocking after the first goal. But I thought after they scored their goal we didn't get our composure back for 15 or 20 minutes.

Murty looks for help from above (Image: Getty Images Europe)

"We go ahead again but the momentum really changed on their second goal, which is a basic error in schoolboy defending.

"It's a big opportunity that we've failed to grasp. I'm not sure that, when you're looking back on your career that those opportunities come along too often."

Having described the clash as the biggest moment of his career, Murty watched his side make a blistering start as they looked like delivering on the pre-match hype generated by six wins on the spin.

That Morelos miss (Image: SNS Group)

But his dream occasion turned to a nightmare after Edouard turned the match on its head in the second half, and he'll have covered his eyes in horror Alfredo Morelos squandered a glorious opportunity to salvage a point in the dying seconds.

Despite the disappointment, Murty insists he'll make sure his players come back stronger after matching Celtic for much of the 90 minutes.

He said: "We have to regroup and go again because, as I said to the players, every single person and their dog will tell us everything that they've done wrong, and all the fundamental things that are wrong with the football club.

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"We can't let one result wash away all the good work we've done until this point. I've got a group of players in there that are hurting, that are frustrated and are wanting to do better. But we have to learn from it and the measure of the team will be how well we bounce back from that.

"I've already said that to them and I've got absolutely no doubts as to the character of the group. We will improve from this, sometimes these knockbacks make you stronger as a group, a little bit hungrier to go and succeed.

"Every single supporter will be walking away from here as down as me. But the difference is I've got an opportunity to do something about it on Monday morning - making sure that group of players don't stay in the doldrums too long."